Birthday Cake For My Sister

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Yesterday we celebrated my sisters birthday. She is not excited about being another year older but she loved her cake.
A three layer German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting and little sunflower decorations on top. She loved it as did everyone else. I also made her some Oreo truffles and a strawberry cheesecake Trifle. And on top of that I made white cupcakes with marshmallow buttercream frosting so we could celebrate my nieces birthday with everyone else.
The frosting didn’t set like the buttercream frosting I usually use but it was so good.
 
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Ooh those cupcakes are so pretty! :D

Tell me more about this coconut pecan frosting, it sounds delicious and I've not heard of it before...
 
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Ooh those cupcakes are so pretty! :D

Tell me more about this coconut pecan frosting, it sounds delicious and I've not heard of it before...


Ok, confession time. In the past I’ve tried multiple recipes for coconut pecan frosting. I try and try and they never work out. The last time the whole thing curdled. It was nasty.
So whenever my sister requests this cake I use store bought frosting.
☺️
The filling is actually more of a caramel pecan coconut frosting by Duncan Hines while on the outside is a more spreadable frosting by Pillsbury.
To be honest though I’m not ashamed of using store bought though.
There are certain things I’m just not good at such as coconut pecan frosting. My sister loves it though and whenever I make her German chocolate cake she asks for the leftover frosting.
 
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Damn I was hoping you'd tell me it was easy to make! Oh well. I don't think I've ever come across it in the UK, so next time I'm in the US I'll try and hunt it down so I can try it :)
 
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Damn I was hoping you'd tell me it was easy to make! Oh well. I don't think I've ever come across it in the UK, so next time I'm in the US I'll try and hunt it down so I can try it :)


Pecan frosting is the standard frosting for a cake that we call German chocolate cake. It’s not that it has its origins in Germany, but rather the name refers to Baker’s brand of sweet chocolate that was used in the 50s to make the cake. The cake was originally called German’s Chocolate Cake. But over time the apostrophe “s” was dropped.


The chocolate used in the cake is sweetened chocolate, not the unsweetened chocolate that is normally used in baking. So the chocolate cake is both lighter in color and more delicate in flavor then something like a devil food chocolate cake or a cake that is made with cocoa powder.


Also unlike a standard butter cake, the eggs are separated and the whites beaten and folded in at the end.


German chocolate cake was the “IT” cake when I was a kid. Every American kid wanted German chocolate cake for their birthday. End it was as much for the love of pecan frosting as it was for the love of chocolate cake. I used to eat all the cake around the frosting, then eat the frosting last—just savoring every bite. Now I can’t imagine doing something like that as it is a pretty sweet frosting.


Tori Avery has a great post by food historian Gil Marks on the history of the German chocolate cake as well as a recipe. If you are interested the link is below.


https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/american-cakes-german-chocolate-cake/


Baker’s still uses a photo of German chocolate cake on their box of sweetened chocolate. I’m not sure if they still include a recipe on the back of the box. As a teen in home economics cooking class, we made the cake using the recipe on the back of the chocolate box.


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Well now I can't stop thinking about chocolate cake! :D

I'm intrigued about the frosting. Do you have a recipe for it you'd recommend? I had a quick search online, and the ones I looked at had condensed milk. Ian isn't meant to have dairy, but I can get coconut condensed milk which I think might work well here.
 
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Well now I can't stop thinking about chocolate cake! :D

I'm intrigued about the frosting. Do you have a recipe for it you'd recommend? I had a quick search online, and the ones I looked at had condensed milk. Ian isn't meant to have dairy, but I can get coconut condensed milk which I think might work well here.

I actually have a recipe that uses unsweetened coconut milk. It still has butter in it, so it’s not dairy free. I’m guessing you could substitute margarine or a butter substitute. In the US butter substitutes vary in fat content. Some are 6g of fat per 14g of butter substitutes. Others are 11g fat per 14g of butter substitutes. The higher fat butter substitutes is better for applications such as frosting.

Since pecan frosting is quite rich it’s generally just used as a filling, with a layer on top. The sides of a traditional German chocolate cake is not frosted. If you want to frost the sides of the cake, depending on the size, you may need to double the batch.

Some bakers like to use a mixture of brown and white sugar for more caramel notes. Personally it makes it a bit too rich for my taste. One of these days though I may try it with some Lyles golden syrup.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

Adapted from Gramercy Tavern Cookbook


85g (4 large) egg yolks, whisked smooth

200g (1 cup) cane sugar

240g (1 cup) unsweetened coconut milk

113g (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed and slightly softened

2 tsp vanilla extract

140g (1 3/4 cups) sweetened shredded coconut, toasted to light golden brown

165g (1 1/2 cups) chopped pecans, toasted


  • In medium bowl whisk egg yolks, set aside
  • In saucepan on med-high heat bring sugar and coconut milk to a boil. Stir until the sugar dissolves.
  • Temper yolks by slowly whisking 1/3 of the hot coconut milk mixture into them
  • Slowly pour tempered yolks into the saucepan
  • Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 185°. (DO NOT BOIL)
  • Stir in the butter, toasted coconut, pecans, and vanilla
  • Transfer to a shallow heat proof container. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Cool until it thickens to a spreadable consistency
 

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